Grounded Theory of Leisure Travel

Abstract

This article reviews grounded theory studies available in the literature that deepen understanding of leisure travel decisions and tourism behaviors. The article includes a set of core propositions that are examined empirically. The reported study includes applying the “long interview method” and “theoretical sampling” in completing personal, face-to-face, interviews of travel parties at the moment of just ending their visits to a Canadian Province. The empirical analysis focuses on acquiring process data held in the minds of customers-that is, the analysis illustrates emic-based storytelling of what was planned and what actually happened that led to what specific outcomes. Achieving such holistic, case-based views of leisure travel decisions and tourism behavior provides a rich, deep and nuanced-filled understanding of the causes and consequences of such behaviors.     

Locating leisure as the route to well-being: challenges of researching women’s leisure in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This article interrogates the relation of leisure to subjective well-being by focusing on the language-based challenges during empirical research, which deeply impact upon both the substance of the data collected and its interpretation, thereby the knowledge that is produced on leisure. Drawing upon the empirical data collected via qualitative methods, the article seizes on the relationship between women’s free-time, labour, leisure and subjective well-being. The findings of the research suggest that the translation of leisure as ‘free time activities’ in Turkish creates serious challenges in researching women’s leisure. Women in this research understand leisure in multiple ways, such as an escape from boredom, a sphere of recuperation, pleasure and self-fulfilment which altogether represent their understanding of leisure as a route to their subjective well-being. Building on these findings, the article aims to highlight the importance of ethnographically guided qualitative research in uncovering both the meanings of and the interdependence between leisure and subjective well-being in both Turkey, the focus of the study, and other comparable societies around the world.     

Public and commercial leisure provision: active citizens and passive consumers?

Despite differing domain assumptions, the various perspectives in leisure studies have largely concentrated on providing a negative critique of ideologies of consumerism and the supposed ‘passivity’ of commercial leisure, often juxtaposed to the supposedly more ‘participatory’ and inclusive nature of public leisure provision. This concern with the mode of production and access has resulted in a failure to develop systematic sociological understandings of acts of consumption. It has also limited theoretical and empirical exploration of the extent to which new forms of consumerism may have served to re-define ‘leisure citizenship’ and the relationship between leisure and social exclusion. The article reviews the various perspectives and suggests that, despite differing domain assumptions there is a growing recognition within leisure studies of the need to move beyond a political defence of the ‘excluded’ to develop an empirically grounded sociological understanding of modern leisure forms.     

Importance of early snowfall for Swedish ski resorts: Evidence based on monthly data

Since the early 1970s, Sweden has experienced an almost uninterrupted surge in demand for downhill skiing. However, from the 2009/2010 season, lift ticket sales have stagnated. With the use of monthly data, this study investigates the role of snow depth and economic factors in the demand for downhill skiing in Sweden. The empirical approach is based on a seemingly unrelated regression model, allowing snow conditions, but not economic factors to differ during the season. The estimates show that an early season increase in natural snow depth by 10 cm raises the growth rate of lift ticket sales by 9 percentage points in the same period. Further, the results indicate that downhill skiing is characterised by low income and price elasticities, implying weak impacts on demand for such changes. The price increase of lift tickets exceeds that of the inflation rate. The recent decline in demand might indicate changed leisure preferences.     

大陆赴台自由行游客地方认同与休闲效益关系研究

台湾是许多大陆游客向往的休闲胜地, 大陆游客赴台自由行热度的持续升温, 这既给台湾带来巨大的旅游经济效益, 更可增进海峡两岸的民间交流和人民情谊。文章通过实证研究探讨大陆赴台自由行游客对台湾的地方认同及其在台从事休闲活动所获得的休闲效益等程度表现的差异性, 并检验地方认同与休闲效益间的相关性。研究表明, 大陆赴台自由行游客对台湾的地方认同以环境认同程度最高, 依恋程度最低, 其在台湾从事休闲活动所获得的休闲效益以社会效益最高, 生理效益最低;不同个人背景与游程规划的大陆赴台自由行游客在地方认同与休闲效益程度方面有显著的差异;地方认同与休闲效益间呈显著正相关且彼此间存在典型相关关系。研究成果可作为海峡两岸旅游职能部门及旅游企业完善休闲法规、环境与产品组合的参考。     

Stated preference and choice models applied to recreation research: A review

Abstract

This article discusses the use and usefulness of stated preference and choice models in recreation/leisure research. Stated preference and choice models require one to design decision experiments to study recreational and leisure decisions made in hypothetical or simulated markets. Historically, such experiments were uncommon in recreation and leisure research; therefore we pay particular attention to comparisons of the stated preference modeling approaches with modeling approaches based on observations of choices made in real markets, such as the analysis of discrete choices using conditional and nested multinomial logit models. The conceptual and theoretical bases of stated preference and choice models are discussed; and procedures for developing such models, including different design strategies, are outlined. Potential uses of these models in recreation research are illustrated with reference to several recent empirical applications.     

Implications of Prospect Theory for the Pricing of Leisure Services

Prospect theory evolved in psychology 35 years ago. It transitioned into economics, where it became one of the founding pillars of behavioral economics. This article uses prospect theory to inform explanations of the workings of eight heuristics used in pricing decisions: enterprise fund effect, semantic framing of discounts and premiums, promotional price, bundling and unbundling of services, hyperbolic discounting, endowment effect, sunk cost effect, and odd number pricing. Research is reviewed from the marketing, psychology, economics, and leisure literatures; examples are provided across a wide spectrum of leisure settings; and implications for leisure managers are suggested.     

Empirical research on leisure and spiritual well-being: conceptualisation,measurement and findings

ABSTRACT

As a follow-up to recent chapters that concluded there is little existing evidence for a relationship between leisure and spiritual well-being, this paper reviews existing empirical research studies on leisure and spiritual well-being: their conceptualisation of spiritual well-being, methodology used, spiritual well-being measurement instruments, sample size, and the research findings. In the last 20 years, there has been an expansion of empirical research on leisure and spirituality; however, research has focused on immediate spiritual experience, not spiritual well-being. Nevertheless, 18 studies focus on leisure and spiritual well-being. All but three studies concluded that leisure was associated with spiritual well-being or contributed to spiritual well-being. Three studies also discovered that leisure could detract from spiritual well-being.     

Creativity,self-expression and leisure

The links between creativity, self-expression and leisure practices are underexplored within leisure literature. Despite research that documents the centrality of leisure as a worked-at process of self-actualisation and self-identity, the practice of leisure is still predominately viewed as one of consumption rather than production and of passivity rather than creativity. This paper, supported by empirical evidence through qualitative research into the lives of users of the leisure spaces of the ‘provincial bohemia’ of the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne, argues that there is a strong component of creativity in this group’s leisure activity. This component, we argue, has, in recent years, become more important for ‘aesthetic-reflexive’ social actors in particular, as acts of self-authored and individual-expressive creativity have become more central to economic production, and to social identity. The rise in creative leisure is strongly linked to the valorisation of the romantic-artistic ethic of inalienable creative self-expression and the rejection of mass and putatively passive forms of leisure consumption common within previous Fordist modes of economic production and social ordering.     

The Calculable and the Incalculable: Narratives of Safety and Danger in the Mountains

This article uses biographical narrative interviews with 22 New Zealand mountaineers to examine their relationship with safety and danger. Interpretation of the empirical material draws on theories about the social and cultural construction of risk to illuminate the complex processes by which the mountaineers make sense of the dangers they encounter in the mountains. The findings challenge existing theories that view risk taking as a defining characteristic of mountaineering and contribute towards a more in-depth understanding of the construction of meaning around safety, danger, and risk in these types of leisure experiences.     

Physically Active Leisure and Tourism Connection: Leisure Involvement and Choice of Tourism Activities Among Paddlers

Leisure and tourism activities may be integrally related for some. This study examined the relationship between the preferred leisure and tourism activities and psychological involvement in paddling of a group of paddlers. Participants were surveyed at the completion of a paddle tour. Data were analyzed using frequencies, confirmatory factor analysis, cross-tabulations, and ANOVA. Four types of leisure-tourism connection (LTC) were identified. People more highly involved with paddling tended to paddle while on vacation compared with other LTC types. The findings provide empirical evidence for previous assertions proposing a connection between involvement in leisure activities and subsequent tourism behaviors.     

UK charter flight package holidays to the Mediterranean, 1970–1978: A statistical analysis

This article explores the commonly held view that there is a direct relationship between prices of and demand for holidays. A detailed investigation is undertaken into one aspect of tourism demand — the demand for medium-distance inclusive tour charter flights from Europe to Mediterranean resorts for the 1970–78 period. From this the price-demand relationship is rigorously analysed. The UK is taken as the case-study.     

The impact of gasoline price fluctuations on lodging demand for US brand hotels

Analyzing US brand hotels, over a 13-year period, this study provides empirical evidence of a significant negative relationship between gasoline prices and demand for certain lodging products, controlling for economic factors (i.e. gross domestic product and population density). Applying principles from microeconomic demand theory to the literatures on gasoline price elasticities, consumer demographics and lodging demand, a set of hypotheses were devised to test the relationship between gasoline prices and lodging demand for specific hotel locations and price segments. Using fixed effects models, the results reveal that lodging demand decreases as gasoline prices rise in all segments except upper-upscale and all locations except urban areas. Hotels in midscale without food and beverage and economy market segments, in resort, suburban and highway locations, exhibit the greatest association between gasoline price shifts and demand. Implications of these findings are discussed for both hospitality research and practice.     

Competition and lodging room rates

Though an important component of commerce and tourism, the accommodation industry has received little economic analysis, particularly in terms of predictive modeling. This paper develops an empirical model of pricing in the lodging industry based on traditional microeconomic price theory. Additionally, three questions are addressed: Do establishments with low occupancy rates tend to raise price to increase revenues, or lower price to increase business? Which approach should they choose? How much competition exists in the industry?     

Consumer Confidence as a Leading Indicator of Change in U.S. Travel Volume

This analysis tracked 12 published indicators of the U.S. economy as a means of understanding monthly fluctuations in the U.S. leisure and business travel volume. A relatively simple published measure of consumer confidence frequently predicted the direction of change in U.S. travel volume over a five-year period. This finding underscores the importance of understanding the overall sense of optimism consumers have for their short-term economic future as being a force shaping the U.S. economy.     

Leisure satisfaction and quality of life in Macao,China

This study investigates the relationship between leisure satisfaction and quality of life in Macao, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. Macao has the highest population density of any city in the world, putting particular pressure on the use of resources for leisure. By examining the significance of leisure to Macao’s inhabitants, the paper argues that access to leisure is a vital element in harmonizing community life. The study also contributes to understanding the existing deficits in leisure provision in the city and indicates the need to address these deficits appropriately.     

Tourism destination decisions: the impact of risk aversion and prior experience

This study broadly explores the impact of risk aversion on tourists' destination decisions and, in particular, explores for differences in individuals' leisure and medical tourism destination decisions. The results of this study indicate that risk aversion significantly distinguishes tourists' destination decisions in both leisure and medical tourism in Indonesia, but not in Singapore. All risk-averse groups are less likely to visit Indonesia than Singapore for leisure and medical purposes. By contrast, all risk-averse groups are likely to visit Singapore for leisure purposes, although they remain unlikely to travel to Singapore for medical tourism. In addition, the study found that the impact of prior experience on the likelihood that the two risk-averse groups will travel to Indonesia and Singapore for leisure was significant. Conversely, the effects of prior experience on medical tourism generally do not significantly differ between the two countries.     

An empirical model of attendance factors at major sporting events

Sports events represent a major category of event revenue contributing economic benefits to cities and regions. Whilst attendance at sports events is recognised as an important leisure and entertainment activity (Shamir and Ruskin, 1984), over the past 20 years sports event attendance expenditure has been declining as a percentage of total recreation expenditure (Ross, 2006). Consequently, an understanding of the factors that influence sports event attendance is crucial to the sustainability of these events. This study identifies the antecedents of sports event attendance among 460 respondents who were surveyed in Melbourne, a city that was recognised as the Ultimate Sports City in 2008 (Church-Sanders, 2008). Structural Equation Modelling was used to create an empirical model of attendance motivations. The model identifies constructs relating to emotional responses and facilities, as the predictors of event attendance and provides a discussion of the implications of this research for sporting event and hospitality managers.     

Toward an explanation of betting as a leisure pursuit

This paper uses an analysis of betting decisions to explore the motivations underlying offcourse horserace betting — a leisure activity which accounted for a turnover of £4.3 billion in the UK in 1989/90. Specifically, four possible motivations are considered: financial gain, intellectual challenge, social interaction and excitement. A testable proposition is developed, linking each motivation to a particular time period in which the bet is placed and as to whether the bet is placed at starting price. Hence, four distinct subsets of the aggregate betting population are defined. The proposition is tested by examining betting behaviour in each subset according to three bet characteristics — financial return, average stake and degree of risk taken, where the value of each characteristic is held to be indicative of an underlying motivation. The results indicate significant support for the proposition that individuals vary in their motivation to bet which is reflected in the nature and timing of their betting activity.     

Migrants and their overseas travels: A psychographic segmentation of Australia's Vietnamese community

This study profiled the travel patterns of Australia's Vietnamese community, with particular reference to travel back to Vietnam. Using a variety of analytical techniques including analysis of variance, factor analysis and regression analysis, the study identified four discrete psychographic groups. These were the ‘home‐sick,’ the ‘suspicious,’ the ‘culture seekers’ and the ‘price sensitive.’ Major contrasts were evident between the various segments. The ‘home‐sick’ appeared to be experiencing difficulties in adapting to their adopted country. In the case of the segment referred to as the ‘suspicious’ we cannot assume that they were experiencing more actual difficulties, but they expressed greater reluctance to consider return trips to their former homeland. The ‘culture seekers’ and ‘price sensitives’ exhibited more of the characteristics of regular leisure travellers and their travel attitudes were less obviously distinguishable as migrant attitudes. The study concluded that psychographic analyzes can lead to a better understanding of the travel behavior and attitudes of migrants and may assist destinations such as Vietnam to target the visiting friends and relatives market more effectively.